Umrah season opened with the New Year, with pilgrims coming from around the world to perform Umrah and visit the Prophet’s Mosque.

The number of visitors who arrived to the Kingdom reached 123,934 pilgrims as of Safar 21, according to the Haj Ministry’s statistics.

Arab News met some pilgrims near the Prophet’s Mosque and spoke with Massoud Al-Deen, an Indonesian pilgrim who came accompanied by his elderly father and said, “I came to the Kingdom to perform Umrah for the first time in my life, and thought this would be a good opportunity for my father to join me in my spiritual journey.”

He added, “I had the pleasure of performing Umrah with my father, as well as visiting the Prophet’s mosque and greeting him. I was impressed by what I have seen of the development in various fields in the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah, from luxury hotels, spacious streets to the modern buildings. I was also impressed by the recent expansion of the Grand Mosque in Makkah and the current expansion in the Prophet’s mosque,” he said.

The Indonesian pilgrim hopes that he gets the opportunity to perform Haj as well.